The French Colony (1615-1760)
The first European to stand on the shores of Lake Ontario in the vicinity of what is now Toronto was French explorer Etienne Brule. He was part of the expedition led by Samuel Champlain in 1608 that resulted in the founding of Quebec. But the Toronto region had been populated for at least ten thousand years before the arrival of Brule in 1615. The natives of the area were well acquainted with Toronto as it was part of a series of trails and water routes that led from northern and western Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The “Toronto Passage” or “Toronto Carrying Place”, following the Humber River, was an important overland shortcut between Lake Ontario and the upper Great Lakes. The region was populated by Indians of the Huron and Petun tribes until around 1600, when they withdrew to land south of Georgian Bay. The Iroquois League, who lived south of Lake Ontario, were their rivals and feuding between Iroquois and Hurons continued into the 17th century as French fur traders began to move into the area. By mid-century the Huron Confederacy had been shattered by exposure to unfamiliar diseases brought over by the French, and conflict with the Iroquois, who subsequently occupied some of the former Huron territory on the north shore of Lake Ontario. They were in turn dislodged by the French in 1688, and the vacant lands were taken up by the Mississaugas from the Canadian Shield.
In the last quarter of the seventeenth century a village appeared on the east bank of the Humber River, near today’s Old Mill. Called Teiaiagon, the village was a trading post and the meeting place of traders from the east (French), north (Indian) and south (English). It was strategically located at the juncture of three important trade routes and on the Toronto Passage, the shortcut to the upper Great Lakes and north and western Canada. Over time Teiaiagon’s population consisted of a shifting amalgam of Mississaugas, Senecas (Iroquois), French fur traders and soldiers, and missionaries, like the Jesuits.
At the same time that the French were establishing themselves along the St. Lawrence River and at Teiaiagon, the British were setting up flourishing colonial settlements along the Atlantic Coast in New England and Chesapeake Bay. The hostilities that existed in Europe between Britain and France were carried over into the colonial settlements and intense rivalries developed between the two as they vied for control of the fur trade and other resources. TheFrench and Indian War (1754-1763) was the result, as the two countries fought for control of the North American continent with the assistance of colonial and Native allies. This conflict expanded into Europe as theSeven Years’ War (1756-1763).
In the course of events various forts and blockhouses were constructed by the French and English along the shores of Lake Ontario and elsewhere. In 1750 The French built Fort Toronto on the east bank of the Humber River; it was soon felt to be inadequate in comparison with British forts like Fort Oswego, so a larger French fort called Fort Rouille was built three miles east of the Humber, on the grounds of the present day Canadian National Exhibition. This was the last French fort in the Toronto area. By September 1760 the British had defeated the French who withdrew from North America, spelling the end of French rule in what would later become Canada.
For the next thirty years the Toronto area was controlled by the British, although their presence was barely felt. The fur trade was revived, with passes being issued by the British commander Lord Dorchester at Montreal for trappers to hunt at Toronto. In 1787 he negotiated the Toronto Purchase, which transferred the title to a fourteen mile stretch of land along Lake Ontario from present day Scarborough to Etobicoke, and nearly 30 miles inland, from the Mississauga Indians to the British. In exchange for giving up over 250,000 acres of land, the Mississaugas got 1700 pounds sterling and some goods. Betweeen 1775-1783 the American Revolution occurred, and although it didn’t have a pronouced effect on Toronto at the time, the post-revolution migration of Loyalists to populate the area north of Lake Ontario from the upper St. Lawrence west to Kingston, the Bay of Quinte and Niagara regions, would have a huge impact on the subsequent development of Upper Canada. In addition, the boundary created down the middle of the Great Lakes by the recognition of the United States as a non-British entity in 1783 fostered the development of a separate Canadian identity, and helped to propell Toronto forward as a logical choice for the centre of British power.
Governor Simcoe’s Village (1793-1812)
In 1791 Britain divided the colony of Quebec into the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, the former encompassing the area now known as Ontario, which was initially populated largely by Loyalists, and the latter the present day province of Quebec, which remained predominantly French. The impetus for dividing the colony into two separate provinces had come from the Loyalists, who objected to having French laws and culture imposed on them in their new surroundings. As a result the two provinces had distinctly different cultures, systems of law and land tenure, and separate elected assemblies to represent their respective interests. In 1792 John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, arrived at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake). Simcoe had served with the British forces during the American Revolution as the commander of a Loyalist regiment called the Queen’s Rangers. Although both Newark and Kingston were already established towns in Upper Canada, Simcoe believed that Toronto was a better site for the capital from a military and naval standpoint. On July 30, 1793 Simcoe arrived at Toronto with his wife, Elizabeth, their servants, and members of the Queen’s Rangers, who would serve both as soldiers and labourers in establishing the new town.
Unfortunately for Simcoe, his superior Lord Dorchester did not agree with his assessment of Toronto as the best place for a military and naval stronghold in Upper Canada. Dorchester preferred Kingston, and since he controlled military expenditures, Simcoe would not have the financial backing he needed. Nonetheless he managed to oversee the construction of a log hut garrison, the laying out of a ten-block town site and 100 acre park lots north of the town, running from Queen Street (originally called Lot Street) up to Bloor, which Simcoe intended to give to government officials from Niagara as compensation for having to move to what was then a wilderness outpost. He also initiated the clearing of Yonge Street up to the Holland River, which opened the lands above the town to wider settlement and provided a vital link to the town’s markets. Simcoe ordered the Queen’s Rangers to erect the first modest public buildings of the town, including those for parliament, courts, and religious services. He also gave a new name to the town, calling it York, after the British commanding general the Duke of York. In the fall of 1796 Simcoe returned to Britain on leave and was reassigned to military duties in the West Indies. Although his time in York was relatively brief, he helped to plant the seeds of what would become a large and prosperous city.
In the years following Simcoe’s departure the town continued to grow at a modest rate. At the first town meeting in July 1797, 241 inhabitants were enumerated. The initial population at York consisted of British officials and their families, soldiers, and a small assortment of labourers, storekeepers and craftsmen. Contemporary correspondence indicates that labour and materials were in such short supply in York’s formative years that not only were costs driven up but the ruling class often had to wait to have their homes built. This demand served to attract shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen to the town, which by 1812 had a population of a little over 700. In the decade leading up to 1812 many new buildings were constructed, including inns and hotels, a jail, two new military blockhouses east and west of the town, and in 1807 the first church, known as “the English Church” but later named St. James. The land surrounding York continued to be filled, mainly with post-Loyalist Americans who eagerly took up the rich farmland east and west of Yonge Street above the town. As York grew and transportation in and out of the town improved, merchants began to arrive who carried a larger, more varied selection of wares, and who imported their goods directly from Britain or New York, rather than obtaining them from Kingston or Montreal, which were both larger and more established towns. Socially the population was split into two well-defined camps: The official ruling elite, a close-knit group of upper class and distinctly British families who held the reins of power and were favoured with special privileges such as being granted large “park lots” north of the town (they were later christened “The Family Compact”); and the working class merchants, labourers and craftsmen. One thing that set York apart from the surrounding countryside was that it did not have a Loyalist foundation – its inhabitants were thoroughly British. The farm settlements above the town were made up mainly of Loyalists and recently arrived Americans. This fact would become significant during the coming conflict with the United States, and in the events leading up to the Rebellion of 1837. However, prior to the War of 1812 the vision that Governor Simcoe had had for York was gradually coming to pass.